Middle East & North Africa

BEIRUT, Aug 27 (NNN-NNA) – The European Union (EU) expressed yesterday, its deep concern at the rapid deterioration of the crisis in Lebanon, the EU Ambassador to Lebanon, Ralph Tarraf said, while urging Lebanese leaders to form a government.

“We feel extreme concern about the rapid deterioration of the economic, financial, security and social crisis,” Tarraf said, after meeting President Michel Aoun, carrying an urgent message from EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell.

ANKARA, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Turkey will not help run Kabul airport after NATO's withdrawal unless the Taliban agree to a Turkish security presence, two officials told Reuters after deadly attacks outside the airport highlighted the perils of any such mission.

The Taliban have asked Turkey for technical help to run the airport after next Tuesday's deadline for all foreign military forces to pull out of Afghanistan, an ultimatum they say applies equally to Turkish troops.

TEHRAN, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi urged the regional countries to assist formation of an inclusive government involving all ethnic and political groups in Afghanistan, Tasnim news agency reported on Friday.

Iran seeks helping hand of regional countries to establish peace and security in the region, without relying on foreign interference, said Raisi in a meeting with visiting Foreign Minister of Pakistan Shah Mahmood Qureshi in Tehran on Thursday.

ADDIS ABABA, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- The African Union (AU) Commission on Thursday received China's Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines here in the Ethiopian capital.

The vaccines, donated by the Chinese government, will mainly cover envoys of the AU Commission and African countries in Addis Ababa, said Chen Xufeng, charge d'affaires of the Chinese mission to the AU, at a handover ceremony.

27 Aug 2021; MEMO: The United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) yesterday extracted an American-made Israeli missile that was dropped on a five-storey apartment building during the occupation state's latest war on Gaza in May. The ordnance had not exploded.

The GBU-39 type missile is often used by the occupation army to destroy Palestinian buildings.

27 Aug 2021; MEMO: Iraq and the UAE are the top Middle Eastern countries which import goods from Iran, the head of the Iranian Trade Development Organization, Hamid Zadboum, announced today.

Zadboum said the value of non-oil exports recorded a growth of 69 per cent in the first quarter of the current fiscal year (21 March to 20 July). Adding that Iran's foreign trade amounted to $29 billion in the first quarter.

27 Aug 2021; MEMO: The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has urged US President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken to curb Israel's colonial project in the occupied Palestinian territories.

In a statement coinciding with the visit of Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett to Washington, the ministry pointed out that this provides a golden opportunity to rein-in the settler-colonial state.

27 Aug 2021; MEMO: Turkey has not made a final decision on a Taliban request for support to run Kabul airport after foreign forces withdraw over security concerns and uncertainty there, President Tayyip Erdogan said today, adding talks were still underway.

26 Aug 2021; MEMO: Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) yesterday announced that it has signed an agreement with the UAE's Etihad Engineering to set up an aircraft conversion facility in Abu Dhabi.

TEHRAN (Iran), Aug 26 (APP): Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Thursday arrived in the Iranian capital on the last leg of his four-nation tour to hold a discussion with leadership on the evolving situation of Afghanistan.

Pakistan’s ambassador to Iran Rahim Hayat Qureshi and senior Foreign Ministry officials welcomed Foreign Minister Qureshi at the Mehrabad Airport.

During his visit, the foreign minister will hold meetings with newly elected Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi and Iranian Foreign Minister Hussein Amir Abdul Hayan.